Dimitrova, Buffalo Grove win the hard way against Lake Zurich
They must play some rough-and-tumble girls basketball in Bulgaria.
After watching Buffalo Grove senior Natali Dimitrova go wild in the second quarter with 10 straight points, the host Bears of Lake Zurich felt it might be necessary to slow Dimitrova down.
So, soon enough Dimitrova was on the floor. And more than once.
No hard feelings, decided Dimitrova after her BG Bison won a regional crown on Thursday night. She led all scorers with 14 points as the Bison (24-5) earned a berth in the Stevenson sectional semifinals against Zion-Benton at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday by eliminating Lake Zurich 52-41.
"That's how I play,'' Dimitrova said. "I'm good. We take one play at a time."
In case you are wondering, there is no high school basketball in Bulgaria, so Dimitrova was trained in club basketball.
Buffalo Grove coach Steve Kolodziej, didn't shudder when his senior hit the floor hard.
"That's the way she plays,'' Kolodziel said. "She had a big game for us."
The underdog Bears (18-11) had a game plan in place to slow down the Bison 3-point shooting attack and it looked good early for Lake Zurich. It was quickly a 4-0 lead for the Bears, and after a Rachel Kuehr jumper, the lead was still intact at 6-3. Lake Zurich's last lead was at 9-7 late in the first quarter.
Before Dimitrova's personal scoring blitz in the second quarter, it was BG's latest 1,000-point scorer, Sammy Stejskal, doing her part. She had 7 of her team's first 14 points.
In fact, Dimitrova and Stejskal had all of BG's points in the second quarter. On two free throws from Stejskal, the BG lead was 26-15 with over a minute to play before half.
The Bears didn't fade away. On a rebound bucket from LZ senior Vanessa Divincenzo the lead was down to 26-21 at halftime.
"We knew they were a very good team,'' Divincenzo said. "But we were ready for their 3-point shooters and we had practiced for it."
The second half belonged to Buffalo Grove's Georgette Topalis. Scoreless at halftime, she opened the second half scoring with a 3-pointer. She had 12 points in the second half, and the Bison lead reached double figures.
"They were beating us on the offensive boards,'' Topalis said. "In the second half, we did a better job rebounding. Everyone on this team can score. We are so deep."
On back-to-back scores from BG's Megan Gamber, Buffalo Grove looked in control after three quarters. The lead was 16 points at 45-29.
"They made adjustments and got to the basket,'' Divincenzo said.
"We have a really good senior group,'' Kolodziej said. "And now, they have a regional title."
Divincenzo shed no tears after her final game at Lake Zurich.
"I like how we put it all together in my fourth and final year,'' she said. "And we still managed to have fun."
Another LZ senior, Abby Pirron, finished with 8 points and 6 rebounds. McKenna Zobel added 9 points and 7 boards.
Topalis (12 points) and Stejskal (11 points) helped pace the Bison attack.